Unit 6

Question 1

Allows the court to determine the constitutionality of laws

Answer 1

Judicial review

Question 2

A judicial system in which the court of law is a neutral arena where two parties argue their differences

Answer 2

Adversary system

Question 3

a system of law concerned with the punishment of those who commit crimes

Answer 3

Criminal law

Question 4

A law that governs relationships between individuals and defines their legal rights

Answer 4

Civil law

Question 5

a person, especially a public official, who institutes legal proceedings against someone

Answer 5

Prosecutor

Question 6

an individual or group being sued or charged with a crime

Answer 6

Defendant

Question 7

a defendant’s admission of guilt in exchange for a less severe punishment

Answer 7

Plea bargain

Question 8

A dispute growing out of an actual case or controversy and that is capable of settlement by legal methods

Answer 8

Justiciable dispute

Question 9

a person who brings a case against another in a court of law

Answer 9

Plaintiff

Question 10

The chief law enforcement officer in the United States and the head of the Department of Justice

Answer 10

U.S. attorney general

Question 11

Justice Department officer who argues the government’s cases before the Supreme Court

Answer 11

Solicitor general

Question 12

Arrangement whereby public officials are hired to provide legal assistance to people accused of crimes who are unable to hire their own attorneys

Answer 12

Public defender system

Question 13

the lowest federal courts; federal trials can be held only here

Answer 13

District courts

Question 14

courts with appellate jurisdiction that hear appeals from the decisions of lower courts

Answer 14

Circuit court of appeals

Question 15

the highest federal court in the United States

Answer 15

Supreme Court

Question 16

the authority to hear cases for the first time

Answer 16

Original jurisdiction

Question 17

The authority of a court to review decisions made by lower courts

Answer 17

Appellate jurisdiction

Question 18

How similar cases have been decided in the past

Answer 18

Precedent

Question 19

A court order that requires police to bring a prisoner to court to explain why they are holding the person

Answer 19

Writ of habeas corpus

Question 20

An order by a higher court directing a lower court to send up a case for review

Answer 20

Writ of Certiorari

Question 21

written order from a court to enforce the performance of some public duty

Answer 21

Writ of Mandamus

Question 22

Presidential custom of submitting the names of prospective appointees for approval to senators from the states in which the appointees are to work

Answer 22

Senatorial courtesy

Question 23

An interpretation of the U.S. constitution holding that the spirit of the times and the needs of the nation can legitimately influence judicial decisions

Answer 23

Judicial activism

Question 24

A judicial philosophy in which judges play minimal policymaking roles, leaving that duty strictly to the legislatures

Answer 24

Judicial restraint

Question 25

A method whereby a poor person can have his or her case heard in federal court without charge

Answer 25

In forma pauperis

Question 26

a court’s list of cases to be heard

Answer 26

Docket

Question 27

“friend of the court” brief filed by an interest group to influence a Supreme Court decision

Answer 27

Amicus curiae brief

Question 28

a signed opinion of a majority of the Supreme Court

Answer 28

Opinion of the Court

Question 29

a signed opinion in which one or more justices disagree with the majority view

Answer 29

Dissenting opinion

Question 30

An opinion that agrees with the majority in a Supreme Court ruling but differs on the reasoning

Answer 30

Concurring opinion

Question 31

let the decision stand

Answer 31

Stare decisis

Question 32

a more conservative Supreme Court under Warren Burger

Answer 32

Burger Court

Question 33

Federal courts created by Congress under Article III of the Constitution, including the district courts, courts of appeals, & specialized courts such as the U.S. Court of International Trade

Answer 33

Constitutional courts

Question 34

Regulating interstate commerce is a power reserved to the federal government

Answer 34

Gibbons v. Ogden

Question 35

Established judicial review; national government laws over state laws; protect existing contracts

Answer 35

Marshall Court

Question 36

Maryland was trying to tax the national bank and Supreme Court ruled that federal law was stronger than the state law

Answer 36

McCulloch v. Maryland

Question 37

the Supreme Court during the period when Earl Warren was chief justice, noted for its activism in the areas of civil rights and free speech

Answer 37

Warren Court

Question 38

a court of judicial restraint and conservative tendencies

Answer 38

Rehnquist Court

Question 39

stage in Supreme Court procedure in which attorneys for both sides appear before the Court to present their positions and answer questions posed by justices

Answer 39

Oral argument

Question 40

justice on the Supreme Court who presides over the Court’s public sessions

Answer 40

Chief justice

Question 41

Persons trained in the law who assist judges in researching legal opinions

Answer 41

Law clerks

Question 42

FDR wanted to have 6 new justices in the Supreme court, who would vote for his New Deal

Answer 42

“Packing” the Court